04-27-1987 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orono Polices to fight drug gales By Lurrie Ham "More potent, more lethal and more available than ever, drugs can threa;c . the life of even a first time user." Orono Police Chief Mel Kilbo did not mince words when he spoke to the Spring Park City Council and representatives fron several area li- quor establishments at a special meeting held on klatch ip to discuss drug policies and enforcement. Kilbo outlined his new strategy aimed at "going after the street lev- el dealer." The plan calls for using plain -clothed officers to make arrests whenever possible. Officers will make arrests for as many drug charges as possible, rather than just confiscating the drugs. The department is going to try to publicize all arrested sellers — and maybe even the buy; n, says Kilho, They will also request the cities to prepare a misdemeanor ordinance to allow the department to charge for some smaller amounts of drugs in these cases not acceptable for felo- ny cases. The county attorney has certain limns on how much of a particular drug that he will accept as a felony charges. The proposed mtsdenicanor ordinance would set lower limns. And the tour -felony point rule allow, '?' fur four felony convictions before, having to serve any state time. The Orono Police Department would like to employ a drug tip lira, consisting of a private phone line and a record- ing device, to accept anonymous calls. Money from the Crime Prevention Fund could b used to set up the drug hotline. Kilbo cited local cases where juveniles as young as I t years of age have been picked up for selling drugs. These small de,,ters often finance only enough to c ver their own habits. The street level dealer is the level we can reach, where we can make an impact, says Kilbo. Colin Comer, a representative from the narcotics division of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, reported on an investigation carried out in this area last summer. The lake area is an example of the corre- lation between money and drug problems, according to Comer. Whenever you have lot,, of money, you usually have sonic big drug problems. The BCA was called in "to take a look at what's going on" because all of the police depart- ment's officers are recognizable. That means some types of activi- ty are curtailed or hidden from kn.►wn police officers, Comer con- tinued In the investigation. an agent went to the rtv:►re popular bars on ;he Card" tlectrr prnwt U:S- Bulk Postage Paid Forced! K4, 102 Mon-nd, 111M SS3Gt Y lake and found that drug dealing was very common, as was drug use in the bars and on the marinas. The agent also reported instances of cocaine being used for tips, in addition to drug use by employees. There seems to be an "awfully lot of cocaine" used in this area, according to Comer. Kilb.) responded to Comer's report by suggesting careful surveil- lance of employees at local bars and marinas.: -- also recommended that each establishment have security personnel patrolling and observing the dock areas during busy times. The drug problems will be abundant from mid -May through about Sep- tember 1. Kilbo says. Drug use really hurts businesses, stressed Commer; it's not the kind of reputation local business owners want. "I w-ll use any way 1 can to con. it the drug problem," Kilbo em- phasized. He wrapped up the presentation saying that police department will do whatever they can in helping the liquor establish- inents in the area control the influx of drugs. Representatives present from Larry's Lounge, Lord Fletch- ers, Minnetonka Mist and Red Rooster felt that they had really good rapport with the police and agreed to help combat this serious problem. Over f.300 r1►All-- A - IL- - •